Sunday's Homily Part 2: The Most Important Part of the Last Supper for the Apostles Mission

Yesterday, I commented on how the priest at mass on Sunday pointed out that the only person to whom Jesus ever made a promise that he would join Jesus in paradise was the thief crucified by his side.  Interestingly, while all the Gospels mention the two others, only Luke tells the story of the repetent thief, who in other Gospels was identified as a revolutionary.  In any case, Fr. Sam made another interesting comment.  He suggested that for the apostles mission the most important part of the  Last Supper was not so much the breaking of the bread and wine but the washing of the feet.  I had to stop and ponder that for a moment.  Clearly, the Eucharist is central to our belief system.  The interpretation fo the Eucharist sets the Catholic church apart from some of our Christian counterparts.  But the key here was that the Catholic priest said the initiation of the Eucharist at the last supper was not the most important part.  Instead, the sign of service to others was the most important part.  That is consistent with a world view that Fr. Sam has expressed many times.  Jesus's concern for the poor.  The concern that we should all have for the less fortunate.  It was just amazing to me to hear that a priest would call this the most important aspect of the last supper.  And, if I accept this thesis, what it says about how I should lead my life and what may or may not be key in thinking about tradeoffs between various aspects of the way I practice my faith.